In my travels through the retail universe I am
still amazed how many retailers fail to capitalize
on the power of impulse purchases at the cash
desk.
Many believe that impulse shopping is relegated
to grocery stores as well as big box department
type outlets. Actually every retailer should experiment
with Impulse Purchases for many compelling reasons:
The customer is likely at the cash desk ready to
make a purchase. They're in a mindset to spend
some money.
If they are buying something in your store, they
already view your store with credibility and are
confident in buying from you.
There is an inherent fixed overhead involved in their
store visit. Adding an impulse purchase, even a small
item will dramatically add to the profit generated by the
purchase.
Sometimes customers remember impulse purchases no matter
how small, because they feel like they "discovered" the item at
a somewhat unlikely moment.
Impulse purchases can be logical add ons to the staple items you
sell. If you sell electronics, common supplies for printers, DVD's
for DVD players or even reams of paper will surely be fast sellers.
The best thing to do is experiment with what sells well for your genre
of retail as impulse purchases. Fixturing that sits at eye level at the
cash desk is available from suppliers making implementation low
risk and economical.
By the way, if you don't think Impulse Purchasing is worth the
effort, one Canadian retailer does over $100 million a year just in
Impulse Purchases at the cash desk!
Take Action Today
1. Select an array of products for your stores as the start of your
Impulse Purchasing Program. You may also consider special
purchases, perhaps of a novel nature that customers will be
happy to "discover". Novelty items like 5 in 1 camping tools in
camping and hiking stores are classic impulse purchases.
2. Get some on-the-counter fixturing from local suppliers as well
as some floor racks you can put at the cash desk.
3. Experiment with new products in the impulse racks on a weekly
basis. Make sure that you do not place items that may be small
high risk for theft items.
4. Monitor sales on a weekly basis. Ideally you should create a
separate Point of Sale department so that you can accurately
isolate impulse purchases.
5. Impulse Purchase programs can be a separate business venture
under the umbrella of the store. Larger organizations should assign
one senior individual to manage and monitor the program.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")